Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Skeleton shrimpCaprella spp
Skeleton shrimp look like, and are sometimes called, "praying mantises
of the sea." They have two pairs of legs attached to the front end of
their bodies, with three pairs of legs at the back end. The front legs
form powerful "claws" for defense, grooming and capturing food. The rear
legs have strong claws that grasp and hold on to algae or other
surfaces. They use their antennae for filter feeding and
swimming....Shrimp, sea anemones and surfperch prey on skeleton shrimp.
The females of some skeleton shrimp species kill the male after mating.
Skeleton shrimp use their front legs for locomotion. To move, they grasp
first with those front legs and then with their back legs, in inchworm
fashion. They swim by rapidly bending and straightening their bodies.
(Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Supreme Court Declines To Suspend 'Climate Kids' Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to suspend proceedings in a
potential landmark climate case that pits a group of youth plaintiffs
against the federal government. The court’s decision preserves the Oct.
29 start date for a federal trial in U.S. District Court in Eugene....
Solicitor General Noel Francisco earlier this month asked the court to
stop the case from going forward. But the court said Monday in a written
order that the government’s request is premature. Jack Moran reports.
(Eugene Register-Guard)

Warming Arctic could be at heart of deadly July heatwave
It's been a hot July.... If we want to understand what's driving this
heat wave — and if we should expect more of the same — we need to look
northward, according to Dr. Jennifer Francis, research professor in
Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University. Francis has been
studying Arctic climate her entire career, and has authored and
co-authored dozens of articles in peer-reviewed publications on the
subject since the 1990s. "The basic story is that because the Arctic is
warming so much faster than everywhere else, it's having an effect on
mid-latitude weather," she told CBC. According to Francis, weather
patterns can stall in certain areas — prolonging an intense heat wave,
for example — if the jet stream gets too weak. (CBC)

Largest king penguin colony shrinks 90% in 30 years
The world's largest king penguin colony has shrunk nearly 90% since the
1980s, research suggests. Aerial and satellite images show breeding pair
numbers have fallen 88% in the last three decades, an article in the
journal Antarctic Science says. The colony lies on the France's
uninhabited Île aux Cochons between Africa and Antarctica in the Indian
Ocean. Researchers say there is no clear reason for the decline. (BBC)

Inspired by orcas, swimmer aims for another loop around Salt Spring
A close encounter with an orca during a swim around Salt Spring Island
last year was a magical experience for Rama DelaRosa, so she is back for
more in 2018. DelaRosa, 36, was scheduled to set out on her second Salt
Spring circumnavigation swim today at 6 a.m. from Vesuvius Bay. She
will do the swim in increments, as before, and plans to finish Sunday at
Vesuvius in the early evening. Jeff Bell reports. (Times Colonist)

Peter Ross and Lance Barrett-Lennard: Harbour seals are easy scapegoats in Chinook salmon decline
Explaining the declining numbers of iconic Chinook salmon is more
complicated than one might think, and harbour seals have been
increasingly put forth by some as the primary culprit. Sure, seals eat
salmon. But food webs are complicated, and it is easy to gloss over the
positive roles that predators play in contributing to healthy and
productive coastal ecosystems. Declining salmon abundance is the result
of a complex variety of factors, and cannot be solely attributed to
harbour seals. In the case of declining numbers of vulnerable Chinook
salmon, threats include warming ocean and freshwater temperatures,
destruction and alteration of stream and estuary habitats, fishing
pressures, pollution, and the salmon’s starring role as prey for other
fishes, seals, sea lions, birds, bears, dolphins, porpoises, and whales —
including critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Dr.
Peter Row and Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard of Ocean Wise write. (Vancouver
Sun)

The other plastic plague
Does plastic spread disease through the oceans? Research on 159 reefs
round Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and Australia has shown that when
there was no plastic in contact with the coral, about 4 percent of it
had one of six common diseases, including white syndrome- a collection
of diseases that nearly always kill coral. But 89 percent of the coral
that was in contact with plastic was diseased. Christina Reed reports.
(New Scientist)

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Monday, July 30, 2018

Striped skunkMephitis mephitis
Two skunk species live in Washington: The striped skunk is the size of a
domestic cat, ranging in length from 22 to 32 inches, including its
tail. Its fur is jet black except for two prominent white stripes
running down its back. The striped skunk occurs throughout most lowland
areas in Washington, preferring open fields, pastures, and croplands
near brushy fencerows, rock outcroppings, and brushy draws. It is also
seen—or its musky odor noticed—in some suburban and urban locations,
particularly near sources of open water. The spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius),
also known as the polecat, ranges in length from 14 to 18 inches,
including its tail. Its fur is a black or grayish black, with white
stripes on its shoulders and sides, and white spots on its forehead,
cheeks, and rump. The spotted skunk occurs throughout west and southeast
Washington. The spotted skunk and striped skunk use similar types of
habitat, although the spotted skunk is more likely to be seen in and
around forests and woodlands, and is not as tolerant of human activity
as the striped skunk. (WDFW)

Orca mother carries dead calf for sixth day as family stays close by
The orca whale J35 was seen Sunday morning still carrying her dead calf.
“We had this sense of relief to see J35 and know she’s still alive and
around, but also this wave of sorrow that she is still carrying the
calf,” wrote Taylor Shedd of Soundwatch in an email. Lynda Mapes
reports. (Seattle Times)

Orca task force promises bold actions to save dying species, but will it deliver?
Some say a task force is all talk, but if action is not taken soon, this
will be the last generation of southern resident killer whales. Nearly
four dozen stakeholders make up Gov. Jay Inslee's orca task force. There
are also three working groups to address three threats to whales:
Vessels, prey and contaminants. The group has until Oct. 1 to give
Inslee a draft report of its recommendations to save the species. Simone
Del Rosario reports. (KCPQ) See also: Turning Heartbreak into Action Monkia Wieland writes. (Orca Watcher)

Thomas Cook axes trips to SeaWorld over animal welfare concerns
Holiday giant Thomas Cook has announced it will stop selling trips to
animal parks that keep killer whales. The firm said more than 90% of its
customers were concerned about animal welfare. The two parks it will
stop selling tickets to as a result are SeaWorld, in Florida, and Loro
Parque in Tenerife. (BBC)

Exotic dolphin stranded on Vancouver Island beach dies despite rescue effort
A dolphin not often found in this part of the world that beached itself
near Tofino has died after what rescuers are describing as an “unusual”
stranding. A team from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue
Centre and Parks Canada say in a news release they were unable to save
what is believed to be a long-beaked common dolphin. Long-beaked common
dolphins typically live in tropical or sub-tropical regions. Their range
includes central California to central Mexico and areas around Japan,
Korea and Taiwan. (Canadian Press)

Tribal canoes converge on Tacoma for songs, stories and renewal of culture
More than 120 tribal canoes rounded Brown’s Point on Saturday and
pointed their bows at the mouth of Tacoma’s Hylebos Waterway. Waiting on
shore were members of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and thousands of
spectators. For the first time in 20 years, the Puyallups are hosting
the Tribal Canoe Journey. The annual event takes place each summer in
the waters of the Salish Sea: From Puget Sound to the Strait of Georgia
in British Columbia. Craig Sailor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Spring Chinook return to the Skokomish River to start a new salmon run
For the first time in decades, an early run of Chinook salmon has
returned to the Skokomish River in southern Hood Canal. These bright,
torpedo-shaped hatchery fish are the first of what is expected to become
an ongoing run of spring Chinook as part of a major salmon-restoration
effort related to the Cushman Hydro Project. Eventually, the salmon run
could provide fishing opportunities for humans and orcas. Chris Dunagan
reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

New Coastal Resilience Report Can Help Washington Prepare For Sea Level Rise
As the climate warms, oceans expand and polar ice caps melt. This means
sea level rise is a reality that land owners and local governments must
prepare for. It brings with it associated risks, such as flooding and
erosion which can impact everything from sewage treatment plants to
roads and bridges. A new report from Washington’s "Coastal Resilience
Project" homes in on exactly how high the tides could rise in 171
different sites and communities based on the latest science. Bellamy
Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Puget Sound Energy looks elsewhere for power as pollution-test failure idles most of Montana coal plant
A failure to meet air-pollution standards has largely shut down two of
the four units of a Montana coal plant that generates power for Puget
Sound Energy.... The idled units generate more than 70 percent of the
plant’s electricity, much of which flows through power lines to homes
and businesses in Western Washington served by Puget Sound Energy
(PSE).... PSE, a part-owner in Colstrip, has been buying power on
regional markets and drawing more electricity from its own gas, wind and
hydroelectricity facilities. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

The Trump Administration Takes on the Endangered Species Act
....Last week, the Trump Administration proposed what the Times called
“the most sweeping set of changes in decades” to the regulations used to
enforce the Act. The changes would weaken protections for endangered
species, while making it easier for companies to build roads, pipelines,
or mines in crucial habitats. Under current regulations, government
agencies are supposed to make decisions about what species need
safeguarding “without reference to possible economic or other impacts.”
The Administration wants to scratch that phrase. It also wants to scale
back protections for threatened species—these are one notch down on the
endangerment scale—and to make it easier to delist species that have
been classified as endangered. Elizabeth Kolbert reports. (The New
Yorker)

Two Victoria swimmers set to make two epic swims
Long distance swimmers Susan Simmons and Jill Yoneda make separate
efforts this week to raise money for Canuck Place and to start a swim
program for people with MS....[Simmons] is intent on crossing Juan de
Fuca Strait two times during an upcoming long-distance swim [on
Wednesday], which would make her the first swimmer from Victoria to Port
Angeles and back in a continuous effort.... On Friday, Victoria’s Jill
Yoneda, 43, will take on a similar challenge by attempting a two-way
crossing of the Strait of Georgia, beginning at Nanaimo’s Neck Point and
turning around near Sechelt. Jeff Bell reports. (Vancouver Sun)

How Paul Brainerd’s extraordinary career went from revolutionizing publishing to empowering enviros
The sale in 1994 of Seattle’s Aldus to Adobe for $525 million didn’t end
Paul Brainerd’s entrepreneurial run. It just pointed it in a new
direction. A personal windfall of roughly $120 million allowed Brainerd,
whose PageMaker software revolutionized desktop publishing, to break
from the business world and move to nonprofits. He spearheaded the
launch of a series of organizations that sought innovative strategies
for practicing philanthropy, education and saving the environment. Lisa
Stiffler reports. (GeekWire)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
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Friday, July 27, 2018

Starry FlounderPlatichthys stellatus
Commonly caught off the outer Washington coast, and occasionally within
Puget Sound, by recreational harvesters. This species belongs to the
right-eyed flounder family, but can also be left-eyed... They range from
the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk up to the Rom Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea,
and Aleutian Islands south to Los Angeles Harbor, California. They are
most commonly found on mud, sand, or gravel bottoms... [and] are usually
found near shore and often enter brackish or fresh water. (WDFW)

For third day, grieving orca carries dead calf in water
A grieving mother orca was seen still carrying her dead calf Thursday
evening, laboring to push it through a 4-knot current, and making deep
dives to retrieve it each time it slipped off her head and sank. “It is
just absolutely gut-wrenching to watch,” said Taylor Shedd, program
coordinator of Soundwatch, who has followed the whale nearly
continuously in daylight hours, keeping state and federal agencies
updated and urging boaters to keep their distance.

On Grieving Whales
Monika Wieland in Orca Watcher writes: ".... I’m sitting on the rocks
at Lime Kiln watching members of J- and K-Pods go both north and south
when the news hits, and my phone starts buzzing with notifications in my
backpack. It’s almost not surprising anymore for this population that
can’t seem to catch a break. This year it seems every time they return
to inland waters after an absence there is another hit to take. L92
Crewser is deceased. J50 Scarlet is emaciated. Now J35 has lost a baby.
We’re coming up on three years without a successful birth into this
critically endangered population. The last calf born that is still alive
is L123 Lazuli, first seen near the end of 2015. 2015 was a baby boom
year, but only five of the eleven known calves born in that 13-month
period are still alive. Prior to that, it had been another 2+ years
without any successful births. Where is the hope?...."

Red-brown algae blooms spotted in Puget Sound
Large, red-brown algal blooms were spotted across Puget Sound last week,
according to the Washington State Department of Ecology. The
department’s Marine Monitoring Unit saw the red-brown blooms near
Bellingham and Samish Bays, East Sound, Marrowstone Island, Liberty Bay,
and finger inlets in the South Sound. There were also large rafts of
algae in the South and Central Sound near Carr Inlet, Commencement Bay,
and Port Madison. The bloom is not harmful to swimmers, but the
department says it’s “not pleasant.” Allison Sundell reports. (KING)

July 2018 in the nearshore
Anne Shaffer of Coastal Watershed Institute reports from the Elwha
nearshore: "July is the month it all comes together. The nearshore is
teeming with fish now and, by initial standards, we are seeing the most
juvenile herring, smelt, and adult and juvenile salmon-primarily Chinook
(look close-can you find them?) that we have ever seen in the Elwha
nearshore. The herring appear to include two size classes. The vast
majority of the smaller (young of the year) herring have parasitic
copepods over at least 10 percent of their body. Four years after dam
removal ended, the evolution continues, and for fish in the nearshore,
appears to be gaining steam. Or maybe just a good year after a few
bad…"

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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Thursday, July 26, 2018

Goosefoot genus Chenopodium
Chenopodium is a genus of several weedy salt-tolerant plants belonging to the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae),
found in temperate regions around the world. Goosefoot plants are often
rank-smelling, and a number of species have leaves that resemble the
foot of a goose—hence their common name. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa),
native to the Andean region of South America, is the most economically
significant goosefoot species and is grown commercially for its
nutritious seeds. Lamb’s quarters, or pigweed (C. album), is a
common weedy species found throughout the world. Its leaves and seeds
are edible, and the plant is cultivated as a food crop in some places,
particularly in India. (Brittanica)

Canada's purchase of Trans Mountain faces at least 1 more hurdle: Donald Trump
The federal government's plan to purchase Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain
pipeline and related infrastructure still faces a potential spoiler in
the form of a U.S. national security review — setting up the possibility
that U.S. President Donald Trump could veto the deal. According to the
purchase agreement, obtained by CBC News, the completion of the deal is
contingent in part on getting clearance from the Committee on Foreign
Investments in the United States, a U.S. inter-agency committee chaired
by Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The purpose of the
committee, also known as the CFIUS, is to review transactions that could
have an effect on the national security of the United States. Brennan
MacDonald and Vassy Kapelos report. (CBC)

A mother grieves: Orca whale continues to carry her dead calf into a second day
For two days she has grieved, carrying her dead calf on her head,
unwilling to let it go. J35, a member of the critically endangered
southern resident family of orcas, gave birth to her calf Tuesday only
to watch it die within half an hour. All day, and through the night, she
carried the calf. She was seen still carrying the calf on Wednesday by
Ken Balcomb, founder and principal investigator of the Center for Whale
Research. “It is unbelievably sad,” said Brad Hanson, wildlife biologist
with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, who has witnessed other
mother orcas do the same thing with calves that did not survive. Lynda
Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Report Algal Blooms And State Can Identify, Warn Of Toxicity
Lakes close because of toxic algae every year, especially as
temperatures climb in summer. Pierce County’s Lake Tapps is the latest
example. Authorities warned people not to swim in the northeast part of
the lake last week. In King County, caution signs remain up at Mallard
Lake in White Center, where a sample showed toxicity at levels higher
than the state’s guidelines advise on July 10. Warmth, light and
nutrients from runoff can cause growths of so-called cyanobacteria to
flourish. It appears as blue-green scum in or on the water and can make
people and animals sick if ingested. It has killed dogs in recent years.
Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Columbia River Treaty Negotiators Ask For Patience Ahead Of Further Talks
The U.S. and Canadian governments have scheduled a second and third
round of negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty. The
54-year-old treaty provides flood protection to Portland and smoothes
out Northwest hydropower production. The two nations laid out their
broad goals at the formal opening of treaty modernization talks in
Washington, D.C., in late May. Now the talks will come to the
Northwest—to Nelson, British Columbia in mid-August and a third round in
Portland in September. American chief negotiator Jill Smail of the U.S.
State Department said the U.S wants to maximize "shared benefits" from
transboundary coordination of water storage behind inland Northwest
dams. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)

Releasing water over dams means higher electric bills in Mason County
Mason County ratepayers will see a surcharge in their electricity bills
this summer as a result of the cost of a federal judge’s mandated fish
spill over the Columbia and Snake river dams. For August, Mason County
Public Utility District No. 3 customers, which include the majority of
electricity ratepayers in Mason County, can expect their bill to rise
$1.32. Bills for the next three months will be comparable, bringing the
utility district’s total estimated share of the cost to $150,000 this
year, said Joel Myer, public information officer for PUD No. 3. “This is
another court-ordered change in how the Columbia River system is
managed for fish, hydropower, irrigation, barge navigation and
recreation,” Myer said. “It’s happening more often, without regard to
the cost to electricity customers and without adequate scientific
review.” aria Shephard Bull reports. (Mason County Life)

SFU researcher discovers unique relationship between sea stars and kelp forests
It’s like Joni Mitchell sang, Jenn Burt says: You don’t know what you’ve
got till it’s gone. The Simon Fraser University doctoral student had
set out to study the effects of sea otters in areas off the B.C. coast —
studying the seaweed and shellfish on rocky reefs with active sea otter
populations, with no sea otters, and some reefs where sea otters had
just arrived. “Instead, I essentially wrote a paper on sea stars,” Burt
said after measuring how their disappearance can devastate a kelp
forest. The paper was published Tuesday in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B. Gordon McIntyre reports. (Vancouver Sun)

County project to enhance salmon habitat along the Green River
To mitigate for tree removal that occurred along levees nearly a decade
ago, King County will soon begin work to place a large wood structure in
the lower Green River and plant more than 1,000 trees near the river
that improves habitat for migrating juvenile salmon. The project, funded
by the King County Flood Control District, is in Kent on the former
Teufel Nursery site, now owned by the county. Construction of the
85-piece log structure will begin in late July, once nesting eagles at
the site have fledged. If eaglets do not fledge by then, construction
activities will adhere to an eagle management plan that outlines
avoidance and mitigation activities to minimize impacts. Tree planting
will begin in October. (Kent Reporter)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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can unsubscribe at any time.

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

American DipperCinclus mexicans
A chunky bird of western streams, the American Dipper is North America's
only truly aquatic songbird. It catches all of its food underwater in
swiftly flowing streams by swimming and walking on the stream bottom.
(All About Birds)

Southern-resident killer whales lose newborn calf, and another youngster is ailing
A new calf born to the critically endangered southern-resident killer
whales Tuesday died within a half-hour of its birth. The loss of the
calf reported by Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research continues
the reproductive failure of the southern residents, which have not
managed a successful pregnancy in three years. The calf’s mother, J35,
was seen Tuesday carrying her dead calf as she swam, refusing to let her
go, hour upon hour, Balcomb said....Meanwhile the health of another
member of the pod, J50, is also raising concern. Brad Hanson, wildlife
biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, was
alongside the whale on Saturday with a petri dish on a 20-footlong pole,
collecting droplets of her breath. “She is very thin, there is no
question about her body condition, it is very emaciated,” Hanson said.
“We are very, very concerned. It is hard to say at this point what her
long-term likelihood of survivorship is.” Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle
Times)

Struggling orcas heavily rely on urban chinook from Seattle-area rivers, new analysis shows
Struggling orca whales need even urban chinook to survive, new findings
show. A new look at just where orcas are eating big kings reveals the
importance of rivers in north and south Puget Sound to the orcas’
survival. Even the Puyallup, Green and Duwamish rivers count for the top
predators. The Nooksack, Elwha, Dungeness, Skagit, Stillaguamish and
Snohomish to the north and Nisqually, Puyallup, Green, Duwamish,
Deschutes and Hood Canal river systems to the south were among the
rivers most important to the whales for providing the chinook that the
critically endangered southern-resident killer whales eat, according to
the analysis by NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times) See also: What will become of orcas if the Endangered Species Act is gutted? Noah Greenwald of Center for Biological Diversity opines. (Seattle Times)

Brentwood Bay Beach closure blamed on 'live-aboard' boat dwellers
The growing number of people living aboard boats in Brentwood Bay is
being blamed for an increase in bacteria in the waters that has led to
the closure of a popular swimming beach. Brentwood Bay Beach in Central
Saanich, B.C., has been closed on and off since June due to high levels
of enterococci, a bacteria found in the digestive tracts of humans and
animals. The bacteria can also be caused by tide changes, heat and
rainfall runoff. Michael Simmons, vice-president of the Saanich Inlet
Protection Society, says the number of "live-aboards" who inhabit the
bay has increased over the years and the bacteria is likely caused by
them. Christine Coulter reports. (CBC)

Plan on track to stop Victoria’s pumping of sewage into Strait of Juan de Fuca
A wastewater treatment plant under construction in Victoria, B.C., will
have a big impact on the Puget Sound, state Department of Ecology
officials say. A $765 million treatment plant slated for McLoughlin
Point in Victoria is expected to be finished by 2020. Started in 2017,
the plant will be the first treatment plant for the greater Victoria
area, which has a population of nearly 400,000. (KCPQ) And: King County sewer project failed soon after installation, costing millions to fix
The bill is rising for utility ratepayers in King County after a pipe
in a pollution-prevention project broke months after it went online.
This spring, crews completed replacing the pipe beneath Seattle's
Magnolia neighborhood through a risky procedure called pipe bursting.
The previous pipe failed in 2016, months after the combined sewer
overflow project was completed. (KIRO)

Canadian Bailout Moves Forward After Trans Mountain Pipeline Sale Deadline Passes
The Canadian government has taken another step towards buying the
controversial Trans Mountain pipeline. This is another move in a deal
that would lead to a massive increase in oil tanker traffic through
Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, made possible by the Canadian
government. A key deadline passed on Sunday. After failing to find
another buyer by then, a transaction has been set in motion that must be
approved by Kinder Morgan shareholders. That will likely happen this
fall. If so, the Canadian government becomes the sole owner of the Trans
Mountain pipeline. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Scientists discover 'wonderland' of life on deep-sea mountains off B.C. coast
Imagine floating down from above a mountain peak as high as the Rockies
and passing by rugged slopes carpeted in ancient forests that are
bursting with animal life. Now, imagine that instead of flying through
the air, you're slowly sinking underwater. That peak is a previously
undiscovered extinct volcano deep in the Pacific Ocean off B.C.'s
Central Coast. Instead of trees, that ancient forest is made up of red
tree corals, and the animals may include numerous species that, before
now, have never been seen by humans. Bethany Lindsay reports. (CBC)

Rebuild it and they will come: Cowichan wetland project creates habitat for fish and fowl
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has broken ground on an ambitious
project to restore close to two hectares of wetlands in the Cowichan
Estuary. The wetlands are in the low-lying section of NCC’s Chase Woods
Nature Preserve, at the base of Mount Tzouhalem. Before being drained
and converted to agricultural use, these marsh wetlands connected to the
Cowichan Estuary and provided important habitat for rearing salmon and
for waterfowl in the winter. With approximately 60 per cent of shoreline
marsh habitats in the Salish Sea having been lost, opportunities to
restore these ecosystems are rare and important. The drained marshes on
the Chase Woods Nature Preserve provide an exciting opportunity for
coastal wetland habitat restoration. (Cowichan Valley Citizen)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Stoneflies order Plecoptera
Stonefly, freshwater aquatic insect, the larvae of which occur on rocks
in streams. Stonefly larvae live in cold, gravelly or mucky stream
bottoms and are a key food for trout and other fish. Approximately 1600
species of stoneflies are found throughout the world, and more than 450
species occur in North America....Adults of most stonefly species live
from a few hours to several days and do not feed. After mating, females
commonly drop their eggs during flight over water. Females of some
species can deposit over 1000 eggs. The eggs of most stonefly species
have a sticky coating or anchorlike projections that help keep the egg
in its original position until the larvae, called nymphs, hatch. (About
Everything)

Sunscreen a new suspect in slow dying of Cowichan River
On soft, early summer mornings, Joe Saysell would get himself a cup of
tea, settle back in his deck chair outside the small house he built for
his wife, Gail, and enjoy nature’s free light show. Shafts of sunlight,
lancing through the numinous green beneath old growth cedars, Douglas
fir and broad leaf maples arching over the Cowichan River, would glimmer
on the wings of countless mayflies, stoneflies and caddis flies. Each
consecutive hatch of insects would struggle through the surface film on
B.C.’s blue-ribbon heritage stream, flutter skyward, then drift upstream
in gossamer clouds carried on the river of air that always runs counter
to the current sweeping down through Willow Run about 50 kilometres
upstream from the Island’s east coast. “Whenever there’s a hatch, it’s
magic,” muses Saysell, a long-retired logger and fishing guide. “It’s
like shimmering snow flurries. You watch the flies whirling above the
river and up into the tree branches looking for mates.” But these
mornings, he doesn’t watch. There’s no point. The insects have all but
vanished. Hatches that once began in mid-April and continued into July,
he says, are now finished in a scant two weeks. Stephen Hume reports.
(Vancouver Sun)

The Teen-Agers Fighting for Climate Justice
On Saturday, hundreds of teen-agers—loud, pensive, stubbornly
determined—marched through Manhattan. They represented a movement that
other teen-agers had started, last year, called Zero Hour. They were
gravely concerned about politicians doing almost nothing for climate
justice, and they had created a list of demands—including, most
importantly, achieving negative carbon emissions by 2030. All across the
country, other kids were marching, too, with the biggest group in a
rainy Washington, D.C., where the movement’s founders led the way down
the National Mall, around the Capitol, before ending with a rally in
Lincoln Park. In New York, the route wound through midtown, from
Columbus Circle to the United Nations headquarters, below some of the
luxury skyscrapers that account for only two per cent of New York’s
nearly one million buildings but a full half of the city’s emissions.
Carolyn Kormann reports. (The New Yorker) See also: Teens, Tweens And Their Supporters Gearing Up For 'The Zero Hour' Youth Climate March
Youth activists concerned about climate change are gearing up for
protest marches worldwide this weekend. On Saturday, for the second year
running, they’ll take part in an event called The Zero Hour that was
conceived by a young woman from Seattle. Bellamy Pailthorp reports.
(KNKX)

B.C.'s carbon tax a real-life rebuttal to carbon pricing's political opponents, some experts say
.... This week, Saskatchewan and Ontario officially joined forces
against the federal government's proposal for a national carbon pricing
policy. Saskatchewan has been at the forefront of the anti-carbon
pricing movement. Its premier, Scott Moe, called the carbon tax policy
"flawed."...He found an ally in newly-elected Ontario Premier Doug Ford,
who has promised to get rid of Ontario's cap and trade carbon pricing
system. Ford, speaking to reporters on July 13, called the carbon tax,
"the worst tax that any government could put on businesses." But this
political commentary is contrary to what many experts say — especially
when it comes to B.C. Ten years ago, the province became the first
jurisdiction in North America to implement a carbon tax. Since then,
B.C.'s tax has attracted significant international media attention and
academic scrutiny. The Economist noted B.C.'s economy had "kept pace
with the rest of the country" since the introduction of the tax. In
2016, The New York Times declared the tax "worked as advertised."
Research by University of British Columbia professors Werner Antweiler
and Sumeet Gulati also found the carbon tax policy to be beneficial.
Roshini Nair reports. (CBC)

Lawmakers, Lobbyists and the Administration Join Forces to Overhaul the Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act, which for 45 years has safeguarded fragile
wildlife while blocking ranching, logging and oil drilling on protected
habitats, is coming under attack from lawmakers, the White House and
industry on a scale not seen in decades, driven partly by fears that the
Republicans will lose ground in November’s midterm elections. In the
past two weeks, more than two dozen pieces of legislation, policy
initiatives and amendments designed to weaken the law have been either
introduced or voted on in Congress or proposed by the Trump
administration. Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman report. (NY Times)

Roads reopen after train derailment
Two roads that were blocked by a train derailment Sunday evening in
Burlington have reopened. The six-car derailment caused Greenleaf Avenue
and South Cherry Street to be closed on Sunday evening, said BNSF
Railway spokesman Gus Melonas. The cars, which Melonas said were wood
chip and lumber cars, derailed at a low speed near the Burlington train
yard. The tipped cars were pushed from the railway overnight, and the
roads were reopened at 2 a.m., Melonas said. The cars will be removed
and transported for assessment and repair, he said. The investigation
into what caused the derailment is ongoing. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Tribal elders see dreams coming true in canoe journey as pullers reach Port Townsend
The Tribal Canoe Journey means a lot to Howeeshata. “My grandmother
envisioned this in the 70s and it was the grandkids that really carried
out her dreams,” he said as canoes from several area tribes arrived at
Fort Worden on Monday afternoon as part of the Power Paddle to Puyallup.
Howeeshata, 64, has been the hereditary chief of the Quileute Tribe
since 1957. His friend, Tom Jackson, 71, is from the Hoh Tribe.Jeannie
McMacken reports. (Peninsula Daily News) See also: Indigenous cultural exchange underway
Two members of an indigenous group from northern Russia are being
immersed in the tribal culture of the Samish Indian Nation. Yulia
Taleeva and Petr Ledkov, who are members of the Nenets indigenous group,
on Monday joined a portion of the annual Canoe Journey during which
coastal tribes from Washington and First Nations from British Columbia
paddle from their traditional lands to a hosting tribe’s lands,
according to the event website. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley
Herald)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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can unsubscribe at any time.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Starfish
continue to baffle researchers with mysterious disease
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "Five
years after a mysterious disease began killing millions of
starfish and turning their tissues to mush, the decimated
population has yet to recover. Meanwhile, researchers continue to
struggle to identify a cause for the disease, which appears to
have uncertain ties to viruses and possibly environmental
conditions. In Puget Sound, it’s not as easy as it once was to
find a diseased sea star, which seems to be a promising sign until
you consider how many have died. As I learned last week during an
outing to Lofall in North Kitsap, the total number of starfish
remains low compared to four years ago, and recovery has been
minimal, if at all..."

'They are still using the ocean as a toilet': NDP Fisheries critic proposes removing fish farms from oceans
The federal NDP critic for Fisheries and Oceans is proposing legislation
that would overhaul fish farming by moving open-net fish farms from the
ocean to land in an effort to stabilize and grow dwindling wild sockeye
salmon numbers.... Reports have shown that wild sockeye salmon that
come into contact with fish farms are more likely to be introduced to a
number of problems, including parasitic sea lice — which attach
themselves to the fish, weakening and sometimes killing them — and the
piscine reovirus (PRV). PRV affects salmon's ability to swim upstream,
which makes it harder for them to return to their spawning grounds. Joel
Ballard reports. (CBC)

Ottawa fails to secure new buyer for Trans Mountain pipeline by deadline
The Canadian government is set to become the official owner of the Trans
Mountain pipeline expansion after failing to quickly flip the project
to another private-sector buyer. Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan had been
working with the government to identify another buyer before July 22.
But with that date set to pass without a deal, it was expected the
pipeline company will now take Ottawa's $4.5-billion offer to purchase
the project to its shareholders. Pending their approval, the sale, which
includes the existing pipeline, the pumping stations and rights of way,
and the Westridge marine terminal in Burnaby, B.C., will be approved
sometime in August or September. Lee Berthiaume reports. (Canadian
Press)

Burnaby
plans to use courts, cops to raze anti-pipeline protest camp
The City of Burnaby plans to turn to the courts and police to
dismantle an anti-pipeline protest camp on Burnaby Mountain, where
protesters refused to obey a city eviction order Saturday. After
the eviction order’s 72-hour deadline lapsed at 6 a.m. — with no
police or city officials at Underhill Avenue and Shellmont Street
to enforce it — protesters at “Camp Cloud” held a news conference
where they reiterated their plan to stay put. On Wednesday, city
officials ordered them to immediately remove all structures,
trailers and vehicles, as well as put out fires, tear down a
shower and leash their dogs. Nick Eagland reports. (Vancouver Sun)

House
votes to block money to bring grizzlies back to North Cascades
The federal government would be barred from spending money to move
grizzly bears into Washington’s North Cascades in the coming
fiscal year, under an amendment approved Thursday by the U.S.
House of Representatives. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has backed
the effort to bring the bears back to the mountain range, saying
in March they are “part of a healthy environment.” That gave new
life to an Obama-era recovery study halted by the Trump
administration. But the recovery effort in the North Cascades is
opposed by Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Sunnyside, who
inserted in a House appropriations bill the amendment banning
federal money for reintroduction efforts. (Seattle Times)

Industry
and conservationists square off over B.C.'s Howe Sound
In some parts of the world, the island-studded fiord called Howe
Sound would have been locked up as a national park long ago, given
its astounding natural beauty on the edge of a metropolis of more
than 2.5-million people. It’s a special place where steep-sided
mountains plunge almost 300 metres into glacier-fed waters that
are home to a wide range of marine life, including salmon,
herring, whales, dolphins, porpoises, and fragile glass-sponge
reefs. But full protection is not what happened to Howe Sound.
Industry indelibly made its mark on the shoreline in 1904, with
the opening of the Britannia mine, toasted as the “largest copper
mine in the British Commonwealth.” The mine closed in 1974. But it
lives on today as a national historic site and tourist attraction
clinging to a hillside and as a continuing source of so much
pollution that a treatment facility had to be built in 2006, with
a budget of $3 million a year to remove an average of 226,000
kilograms of heavy metal contaminants each year. Over the decades,
industry continued to come and go in the sound, including the
Western Forest Products Woodfibre pulp mill, closed in 2006, on
the same site where B.C. Sulphite Fibre Company began operations
in 1912. The place remains a contamination nightmare. Larry Pynn
reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Gravel
mine application stirs North Shore Road neighbors
A Belfair business wants to mine 49 acres along the north shore of
Hood Canal for gravel and sand, much to the outrage of local
residents. Grump Ventures, owned by Russell Scott, has applied for
permits from Mason County and the state departments of Natural
Resources and Ecology to operate on 66 acres on North Shore Road,
about five miles southwest of Belfair across from a Port of Allyn
dock. Mason County is the lead agency handling the environmental,
or SEPA, review of the application and opened up a 30-day comment
period that ends Monday, July 23. Aria Shephard Bull reports.
(Kitsap Sun)

Renovations
at Puyallup hatchery aim to bolster salmon population in Puget
Sound
Construction of a $16.4 million project to renovate the Puyallup
Fish Hatchery began this month after years of planning. The
project benefits the Puyallup River basin and Puget Sound,
according to Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officials.
“This (project) is critical for us in terms of providing harvest
opportunity up and down the coast of Washington, and as we have
that conversation about orca and our commitments to addressing the
issues surrounding Puget Sound and meeting the needs of orca,”
WDFW regional director Larry Phillips said earlier this month.
Allison Needles reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Tremors
shove Washington westward, offer clues into next big
earthquake
Thousands of tiny tremors over the past few months have moved
parts of Washington and Vancouver Island westward. It’s a near
annual event that backs expectations by some scientists that a big
earthquake may hit the Seattle area harder than their previous
models suggested. This recent wave of activity began in May and
appears to be dying off now, according to University of Washington
earth-sciences professor Ken Creager. It’s a process, known as
episodic tremor and slip, thought to increase stress on locked
faults — areas where tectonic plates cannot move past each other.
Earthquakes occur when the pressure on locked zones reaches the
breaking point and the plates snap past each other. Scientists
believe an episode of tremors could someday trigger a so-called
megaquake on the offshore fault called the Cascadia Subduction
Zone. The 700-mile-long fault runs from Vancouver Island to
northern California, and can unleash earthquakes of up to
magnitude 9.0. It’s one of the biggest of faults in the U.S. Sarah
Wu reports. (Seattle Times)

You
can sunbathe, tidepool or enjoy views from a bluff here — but
not in the buff
Teddy Bear Cove, just south of Bellingham, is popular year-round.
It’s ideal if you don’t have a lot of time but want to squeeze in
a hike that’s more challenging than just a pretty amble. In
summer, it’s a nice place to do a little bit of sun-lazing or
tide-pool gazing during low tide. Plus, it’s a truly pretty piece
of this corner of the world. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham
Herald)

'It's
surreal': Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market sold to
fish-throwing employees
The technique of flinging fish from the display cases of the
nearly 90-year-old Pike Place Fish Market to the scales hasn't
changed for Anders Miller, Samuel Samson, Jaison Scott and Ryan
Reese — who together have worked at the Seattle landmark for
decades — but now they're the owners and not just the hired hands.
Christine Clarridge reports. (Seattle Times)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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can unsubscribe at any time.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Fat Gaper or Horse ClamTresus capax
There are also two species of Gaper in Puget Sound. Capax or fat gaper is more common, however a southern cousin, Tresus nuttalli
or Pacific Gaper, can be present in the same bed.... The Gaper clam
weighs in from one to four pounds and the shell can be up to 8 inches
long. The Gaper clam burrows as it grows reaching the surface with long
siphons. However the Gaper only goes around 25 inches into the
sediment. At the surface the tips of the siphons can be used to
distinguish between the Gaper clam and the Geoduck clam, the tip of the
geoduck is fleshy while the Gaper has hard valves on each side of the
siphon opening. These clams are attacked by crabs, moon snails and the
giant pink sea star. (David W. Jamison]

July 12-17 with Js and Ks
Orca Watcher Monika Weiland writes: "After another nearly two week
absence, some of the Southern Residents returned to the Salish Sea on
the morning of July 12. It was all of J-Pod, and this time they brought
K-Pod with them for their first visit to the Salish Sea since March! I
saw a few Js in the morning head north then south off Land Bank..."
Check out the photos and story.

Interior Department Proposes a Vast Reworking of the Endangered Species Act
The Interior Department on Thursday proposed the most sweeping set of
changes in decades to the Endangered Species Act, the law that brought
the bald eagle and the Yellowstone grizzly bear back from the edge of
extinction but which Republicans say is cumbersome and restricts
economic development. The proposed revisions have far-reaching
implications, potentially making it easier for roads, pipelines and
other construction projects to gain approvals than under current rules.
One change, for instance, would eliminate longstanding language that
prohibits considering economic factors when deciding whether or not a
species should be protected. The agency also intends to make it more
difficult to shield species like the Atlantic sturgeon that are
considered “threatened,” which is the category one level beneath the
most serious one, “endangered.” Lisa Friedman, Kendra Pierre-Louis and
Livia Albeck-Ripka report. (NY Times)

'Climate change kids' make stand in federal courtroom in Oregon
Attorneys for 21 young activists suing the federal government over
climate change urged a judge Wednesday to allow their case to go to
trial while government lawyers argued that a court can't direct national
energy policy. The youths -- from 10 states and ranging in age from 11
to 22 -- assert a constitutional right to a "climate system capable of
sustaining human life.'' They contend the president and eight federal
agencies have violated that right and the public's trust. They've asked
the court to order the government to prepare a "national remedial plan''
to phase out fossil fuel emissions, draw down excess atmospheric carbon
dioxide and then monitor compliance. Maxine Bernstein reports. Lawyers
for the government argued that the federal court has no jurisdiction to
prescribe what the president does in his official duties. Congress
created the Administrative Procedure Act as the sole method to challenge
actions taken by federal agencies, they said. (Oregonian)

PSE’s gas plant studies have ‘significant technical issues,’ Puyallup tribe’s experts allege
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians has asked Tacoma to re-examine whether a
Tideflats liquified natural gas plant — now under construction — is
really safe. The tribe is armed with two reviews of Puget Sound Energy’s
own safety studies: one from a U.S. Department of Energy-funded
research facility and another from a 30-year veteran of the field.
Together, the reports say the city’s environmental analysis, informed
partly by PSE-funded studies, is not thorough enough and does not
consider a worst-case scenario — a catastrophic blast called a “boiling
liquid expanding vapor explosion.” Kate Martin reports. (Tacoma News
Tribune)

Navy releases favored plan to increase Whidbey Growlers
The U.S. Navy plans to increase jets at their Whidbey Island Naval
station. How this affects San Juan islanders is still up in the air. The
good news is that the majority of low-flying jet practices would be
moved from the northern end of the Whidbey Island to about 10 miles
south, which is farther from San Juan County. The bad news is, an
increase in practices would take off and land at the northern end of
Whidbey — closest to San Juan County — and 36 more jets, known as
Growlers, would be added to the station, overall, totaling 118. “If …
the 36 more Growlers are active, there will be more noise everywhere,”
said Cynthia Dilling, a member of Quiet Skies Over San Juan County.
“[However] if the preferred plan is accepted, there is a chance San Juan
County could get slightly fewer [low-flying practices], which could
make a difference.” Haley Day reports. (San Juan Journal)

Getting lost in the tangle of connections called the Puget Sound food web
Chris Dunagan in Watching Our Water Ways writes: "...If you
really want to learn about why a species is doing well or poorly, you
need to look beyond prey availability for your species of interest and
find out what the prey are eating as well. Healthy prey must be abundant
for any species to do well, so the prey of the prey must also do well.
When we combine features of this prey base with varying conditions among
predators and competitors, we begin to build a model of the food
web...."

B.C.'s Site C dam project behind schedule, plagued by problems, expert claims
B.C.'s mammoth Site C hydroelectric project is seriously behind
schedule, plagued by quality problems and marked by secrecy, according
to an assessment by an international dam expert. E. Harvey Elwin — hired
by a First Nation asking for a court injunction to aspects of the dam's
construction — expresses concern about work at the job site in his
196-page report citing internal BC Hydro and government documents, many
of them previously confidential.... In a letter accompanying a progress
report to the B.C. Utilities Commission dated July 11, BC Hydro
president Chris O'Riley said the project remains "on time and within
budget." (Canadian Press)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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Thursday, July 19, 2018

Rattlesnake-PlantainGoodyera oblongifoliaGoodyera oblongifolia is a species of orchid... native to much
of North America, particularly in the mountains of the western United
States and Canada, from Alaska to northern Mexico, as well as in the
Great Lakes region, Maine, Quebec and the Canadian Maritime
Provinces.... According to the "Doctrine of Signs," early settlers
believed that because the markings on the leaves resembled snakeskin
markings, this plant could be used in treatment of rattlesnake bites....
Some northwest coast peoples, such as the Saanich, used the plants as a
good luck charm.... Goodyera is named for John Goodyear, a 17th century
English botanist. (Wikipedia, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)

City of Burnaby gives Kinder Morgan protesters 72-hour eviction notice
Pipeline protesters camping on Burnaby Mountain say they’re gearing up
for a legal battle after being slapped with an eviction and bylaw notice
Wednesday and given three days to leave. The City of Burnaby ordered
the occupants of the “Camp Cloud” protest site at Underhill Avenue and
Shellmont Street to immediately remove all structures, trailers and
vehicles, as well as put out fires, tear down a shower and leash their
dogs. Officials warned the protesters to cease their “unauthorized
occupation and use” of city lands within 72 hours or face city action to
remove the camp. The protest camp started last November with a single
trailer parked at Kinder Morgan‘s Westridge Marine Terminal on Burrard
Inlet, but was moved in December to the street outside the tank farm’s
gates, where it has grown into dozens of tents, trailers and buildings,
including a two-level wood structure. Nick Eagland & Patrick
Johnston report. (Vancouver Sun)

No construction ramp-up on Trans Mountain since purchase deal with Ottawa
Construction spending on the Trans Mountain oil pipeline has been
minimal since the Canadian government announced its $4.5-billion
purchase of the expansion project and its existing assets from Kinder
Morgan Canada. In a conference call Wednesday to discuss financial
results, Kinder Morgan Canada revealed it had spent about $1.25 billion
on the $7.4-billion expansion project to May 31, the date that Canada
started picking up the construction tab after reaching a purchase
agreement the day before. But only another $41 million was spent in
June, said Kinder Morgan. There were no figures for July. Gordon
Hoekstra report. (Vancouver Sun)

Trudeau names B.C. MP new minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named North Vancouver MP Jonathan
Wilkinson as his new minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast
Guard Wednesday morning in a pre-election cabinet shuffle. The move
places Wilkinson at the forefront of his government’s response to major
environmental concerns in B.C. — the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
and concerns about the risk of a major oil spill in the Salish Sea, as
well as the impact of open-net pen salmon farms on wild salmon
populations. Wilkinson, who was elected in 2015, has served as the
parliamentary secretary to Environment and Climate Change Minister
Catherine McKenna. In that role, he has repeatedly defended the Trans
Mountain pipeline, highlighting its potential for job creation and tax
revenue. He’s also touted the investments his government has made in
ocean protection, including investments to improve oil-spill response.
Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (TheStar Vancouver)

'Everybody's scared,' Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce fears potential sport fishing restrictions
The potential for expanded fin-fishing bans in waters along the
southwest coast of Vancouver Island has the sport fishing industry, a
top economic performer for many towns, worried. "It's going to have a
devastating effect," said Karl Ablack, the vice president of the Port
Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, to All Points West host Jason D'Souza.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) added waters from Port Renfrew to
Tofino to its amended recovery strategy for the northern and southern
resident killer whales, in order to find ways to protect dwindling
chinook salmon stocks, the main source of food for the species. There
are an estimated 75 southern resident killer whales left in Canada's
waters. Joel Ballard reports. (CBC) See also: Bellingham fishing derby forced to evolve with increasing shortage of salmon Katie Boer reports. (KCPQ)

Equity and social science integration at the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference
Social science and equity are increasingly considered integral aspects
of ecosystem restoration and reflect an expanding recognition that
diverse approaches, tools, and voices matter in recovery efforts. A new
study looks at social science and equity integration within the
proceedings of the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. The study was
produced by David Trimbach on behalf of the Puget Sound Partnership for
the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound and the Puget Sound Institute. (Puget
Sound Institute)

Marriott Follows Starbucks In Dropping Plastic Straws
The days of plastic straws are drawing shorter. Marriott International
on Wednesday became the latest big company to announce it will stop
using plastic straws, saying it would remove them from its more than
6,500 properties by next July. The giant hotel chain said it will stop
offering plastic stirrers, too. It said the environmentally friendly
move could eliminate the use of more than 1 billion plastic straws and
about 250 million stirrers per year. Marriott said its hotels will
“offer alternative straws upon request.” Earlier this month, Starbucks
said it would drop plastic straws from its 28,000 stores worldwide by
2020. McDonald’s is phasing out plastic straws at about 1,300
restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. And Alaska Air said in
May that it’s replacing plastic straws on its flights with “sustainable,
marine-friendly alternatives.” Avie Schneider reports. (NPR)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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can unsubscribe at any time.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Birds
and Baseball
At the crack of the bat, a Blue Jay flies toward first and glides
around the base. Deep in left field, an Oriole pounces on the
ball. He wings the ball toward second, where a fellow Oriole
snares it on a hop - just as the swift Blue Jay slides toward the
base in a cloud of red dust. Ahh, summer baseball! (BirdNote)

Why Vancouver is getting utterly hosed on gas prices
The one pipeline is full, the only refinery is maxxed out and thousands
of vehicles run on whatever fuel can be imported by truck or barge The
next time you’re cringing at the pump, spare a thought for Vancouver.
The West Coast metropolis is consistently slapped with the highest
gasoline prices of any major city on the continent. As of press time,
the lowest gas price in all of Vancouver was 148.9. In Toronto and
Montreal, meanwhile, the cheapest gas was 124.9 and 135.9, respectively.
Tristin Hopper reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Forest Service agrees with mountain goat relocation plan
The U.S. Forest Service has proposed authorizing the National Park
Service and partner agencies to relocate mountain goats from the
Olympics to the North Cascades. The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Olympic and
Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests released Friday a draft record of
decision regarding the state’s mountain goat populations. The Forest
Service supports the proposal announced in June by the National Park
Service, state Department of Fish & Wildlife and other agencies that
have been working on plans to address problematic, nonnative mountain
goats in the Olympics and to increase the number of mountain goats in
the North Cascades, where they are native. The plan is to move about 50
percent of the goats in the Olympics — about 360 — and kill the rest,
according to the environmental impact statement, or EIS, the agencies
released in May. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Washington State Ferries Joins Green Marine
Washington State Ferries (WSF) has become the first U.S. ferry operator
to join Green Marine, the globally-recognized environmental
certification program for the North American maritime industry. WSF is
the largest ferry system in the U.S, serving nearly 25 million people a
year. It is enrolling all of its operations in the Green Marine program,
namely 22 vessels, 19 terminals and a maintenance facility, thereby
showing its substantial commitment to sustainable operations. Green
Marine is a voluntary industry-led sustainability initiative for ship
owners, port authorities, terminal operators and shipyard managers. The
certification program guides participants towards reducing their
environmental footprint by setting various benchmarks that exceed
regulatory compliance and foster a culture of continual improvement.
(Marine Executive) See also: Survey: Riders rate state ferry system as OK overall - with lots of specific gripes (KOMO)

Warning issued after toxic death cap mushrooms found in Greater Victoria
The highly toxic “death cap” mushroom, responsible for the death of a
Victoria toddler in 2016, has already been found growing in Greater
Victoria, much earlier than expected, Island Health warns. Amanita phalloides
mushrooms can be found in both urban and rural areas under ornamental
European hardwoods introduced here about 50 years ago and more recently
under native oak trees. Cindy E. Harnett reports. (Times Colonist)

Fish oil supplements for a healthy heart 'nonsense'
Taking omega-3 fish oil supplements is often touted as a simple way to
protect your heart - but experts say the evidence that it does any good
is flimsy at best. Cochrane researchers looked at trials in over 100,000
people and found little proof that it prevented heart disease. They say
the chance of getting any meaningful benefit from taking omega-3 is one
in 1,000. Eating oily fish, however, can still be recommended as part
of a healthy diet. (BBC)

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service
by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@)
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About Me

Salish Sea Communications provides communications and public relations services that raise visibility and engage audiences. Drawing on over 30 years experience in private, public and not-for-profit work, Mike Sato brings to you his skills and insights in developing and carrying out your print, electronic and social media projects and products. "I've been in the communications business since 1977 starting with community weekly newspapers then working for Seattle City Light, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Hawaiian Electric Company and, for 20 years, People For Puget Sound." Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told. WA State UBI #601395482